The risk of foreign object debris (FOD) ingestion into aircraft engines is an important design consideration that limits optimization of engine inlet location relative to the main landing gear for aerodynamic performance, regulatory requirements, and economic feasibility. Indeed, many aircraft designs position the inlets of underwing-mounted engines in front of the main landing gear to reduce the chances that the engine inlets will ingest runway debris (rocks, water, tire debris, aircraft parts, slush, gear ice, etc.) thrown by the main landing gear tires. This is so even though such an arrangement is not optimal for aerodynamic performance, regulatory requirements, and economic feasibility. In short, the risk of FOD ingestion into engine inlets significantly limits the number of possible landing gear/engine inlet arrangements that may be analyzed in order to optimize aircraft performance.